How to Add an Admin to Your Enshrouded Server

Enshrouded has no admin you enter in the dashboard. Admin permissions are granted through user groups in the userGroups section of the enshrouded_server.json file. Each group has its own permissions and its own password — whoever enters the admin group's password when joining plays with that group's permissions.

Note

There is no admin password field in the dashboard. Permissions are managed exclusively in the enshrouded_server.json file.

Grant admin permissions

1. Stop the server
   Stop your server via the dashboard.

2. Connect via SFTP
   Connect to your server via SFTP.

3. Open enshrouded_server.json
   Open the file enshrouded_server.json in the main directory and find the userGroups section. The file already comes with ready-made groups, including Admin.

4. Check the permissions of the Admin group
   All permissions in the Admin group should be set to true:

   {
       "name": "Admin",
       "password": "YOUR_ADMIN_PASSWORD",
       "canKickBan": true,
       "canAccessInventories": true,
       "canEditWorld": true,
       "canEditBase": true,
       "canExtendBase": true,
       "reservedSlots": 0
   }

   Tip

   Check the file with a JSON formatter like JSONLint after editing — a single missing or extra comma is enough to make the server discard your user groups.

5. Set a password
   By default, the password field contains a randomly generated password. Replace it with one that only your admins know. You can find more about this under Change Server Password.

6. Start the server
   Save the file and start your server.

Warning

Changes to enshrouded_server.json are overwritten if the server is running when you save. Always stop the server before editing.

Important

Never leave the password field of the Admin group empty. A group without a password is open to everyone — any player who finds your server would get full admin permissions.

Join as admin

1. Join the server
   Connect to your server as described under Join Server.

2. Enter the admin password
   Enter the password of the Admin group in the password prompt. The password you enter decides which group you are assigned to and which permissions you receive.

Tip

If you set reservedSlots to 1 or higher for a group, the server is shown as full to players of other groups as soon as they would take the last free slot. That way you can still join as an admin when your server is busy.

Permissions of a group

Key	Values	Meaning
name	Text	Name of the group
password	Text	Password players use to join this group
canKickBan	true / false	Kick and ban players
canAccessInventories	true / false	Use chests and other containers
canEditWorld	true / false	Terraforming and other interactions with the world outside of bases
canEditBase	true / false	Add and remove blocks and props in bases
canExtendBase	true / false	Add, upgrade and remove Flame Altars — in other words, extend the base area
reservedSlots	Number	Slots reserved for this group

These permissions only control bases, containers, the world outside of bases and moderation. Combat, looting, exploration and progress in the game world are explicitly allowed in the Admin and Friend groups.

Create your own group

You can also create your own groups, for example a moderator group that may kick players but cannot place Flame Altars. To do so, add another entry with its own name, its own password and the desired permissions to the userGroups section:

{
    "name": "Moderator",
    "password": "YOUR_MODERATOR_PASSWORD",
    "canKickBan": true,
    "canAccessInventories": true,
    "canEditWorld": true,
    "canEditBase": true,
    "canExtendBase": false,
    "reservedSlots": 0
}

Tip

Give every group its own password. Only then is it unambiguous which permissions a player receives with their password.

Important

The password field at the very top of the file dates back to the time before user groups. If a password is set there, the game creates a group called default from it that receives the permissions of the Friend group — no admin permissions and no kick/ban. If the file is created anew while such a password is set, only this default group is created; the ready-made groups such as Admin are then missing. Leave this field empty ("") and grant admin permissions exclusively through the userGroups section.

Note

When the server starts, the dashboard only rewrites the values name, slotCount, queryPort and gameSettingsPreset. Your userGroups section stays untouched.

To learn what an admin with the canKickBan permission can do in game, see Kick & Ban Players.